


A message in flowers

by PrincessOfMalec (Treasure7)



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Brother-Sister Relationships, First Dates, Fluff, Insecure Magnus Bane, Language of Flowers, M/M, Magnus is a bit of a sap, Maryse is a homophobic bitch, Prince Alec, Raj is actually a total sweetheart, SO MUCH FLUFF, Slightly OOC side characters, flower shop owner Magnus, seriously he didn't deserve to be an ass on the show so I fixed it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-15 15:54:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7228909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treasure7/pseuds/PrincessOfMalec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus Bane owns one of the most popular and sought after flower shops in Manhattan. His life didn't quite turn out the way he envisioned it, but at 30 years old he really couldn't wish for anything better. He lives a quiet life, spending all his time and energy on the love of his life - his shop. Everything is about to change though, and all because of a very tall dark and oh so very handsome stranger who walks into his shop and asks how to passive aggressively say "fuck you" in flowers.</p><p>Alec Lightwood is the crown prince of Idris. When his homophobic mother demands that he "grows out of this phase" and brings a suitable girl for his father's welcoming-dinner, Alec finds himself in a position where he needs to buy flowers to apologize for calling his mother out for said homophobia or risk her taking her anger out on everybody around the general vicinity of her(including himself and his sister) for lord know how long.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Well, who says you can't give your mother the middle finger when giving flowers, and receive a grateful hug in response? </i></p><p> </p><p>Or</p><p>The one where I saw a flower-prompt on tumblr and was inspired into a multi chapter-fic!</p><p>(Rated E for later chapters)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!  
> So it's almost midsummer in Sweden and that means flowers (also, it's my birthday on the 26th) so I wanted to write some ute Malec-fluff to celebrate. Then I stumbled on this prompt on Tumblr and got inspired so here's the malec-version of the following prompt:  
>  _Person A owns a flower shop and person B comes storming in one day, slaps 20 bucks on the counter and says “How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flowers?”_
> 
> Small warning: I am in no way an expert on flowers, and just used the internet as my reference-point! I hope nobody minds (a)

If you had told Magnus ten years ago that he would be the owner of the biggest and most sought after flower shop in Manhattan, he would have laughed in your face. Magnus Bane at the age of 20 had set out to become a fashion designer. He’d lived a very typical party boy life and, though he’d had a knowledge of flowers for as long as he could remember due to his mother’s business, he was very far from interested in working with any living materials.

 

But then his mother had gotten sick and Magnus had taken over her small flower shop until she could find someone suitable to take over for her to retire and focus on getting well again. He’d finished up his studies on the side and spent his days working in the shop. He’d brushed up on his knowledge of how the different flowers needed to be cared for and, mostly for his own amusement since very few customers actually cared, learnt the meaning of every single flower in the shop. Over the years, Magnus had fallen in love with the floral business and found himself spending his evenings planning bouquets for different occasions instead of planning parties with his friends. After he had graduated, he’d spoken to his mother and asked her to let him take over the shop for her instead of selling it and he’d never seen Indah Bane smile as wide as the day her son had decided to follow in her footsteps.

 

Magnus had since then hired his best friend, Catarina, and together they had turned the small flower shop with just enough customers to get around into one of the most popular floral businesses in Manhattan. The magician, which is what his mother had taken to calling him ever since New York times had referred to their work with the shop as “magical”, lived for his shop and couldn’t be more proud of the success it was getting.

 

“Catarina? Did you order those roses I asked for? I need them for the Valentine-bouquets I’m doing for the last minute customers on the 14th and they are always late on the delivery so you know it’s better to be on time” Magnus called out as he finished the bow on the arrangement he was working on. It was for a mother who wanted to congratulate her daughter on her promotion at work, she had wanted a simple but elegant bouquet with flowers which conveyed her pride as well as her daughter’s ambitious spirit and Magnus had chosen a pink Carnation as a centerpiece, symbolizing the love and pride of a mother, subtly surrounding it with gladiolus-flowers, for the strength of character, and Alstroemeria, for wealth, prosperity and fortune.

“You mean the red ones? You know that order is standing for every year. Did you want me to order extra for this year?” Catarina called back and Magnus shook his head as he did the final touches on the bow, a double with gold and purple sash, and lifted the arrangement to wrap it up for the customer.

“No, the lavender ones. I’m doing a ‘floral meanings’-bouquets table and I need lavender-roses for ‘love at first sight’ and ‘enchantment’. I want to see how they do with our most romantic holiday before starting it up as a standing thing in the shop” he explained, a small smile of excitement playing on his lips.

“Aren’t we already doing ‘floral meanings’-bouquets for customers? Isn’t that what you’re working on right now?” was his friend’s confused answer and Magnus gave a small laugh at that.

“Yeah, for special requests we do them. But I want to try doing them as a standing product so that even the customers who don’t special-order can buy a meaningful bouquet, you know?” he said and put down the now wrapped and finish arrangement and started sweeping up the flower stems and leaves that had fallen on the floor as he’d been working.

“Sounds like an absolutely excellent idea!” Christina exclaimed, now sounding almost as excited as Magnus himself was feeling and he couldn’t help the huge smile that spread over his face at that.

 

When he’d finished cleaning up the mess he’d made, Magnus decided to draw up some of the designs that he’d planned out in his head the night before. Grabbing his sketch-book and pens, he put on his favorite playlist and turned the volume up some and got to work, letting his hips move slightly to the music as his hand flew over the paper, drawing out the picture in his mind and noting the type of flowers and their meanings beside the sketch. This was what Magnus loved most about his job, and why he could bare with the early mornings that he usually hated, the way he could be almost limitlessly creative with different projects.

 

His creative-bubble was abruptly popped, however, when the doors to the shop flew open and before Magnus even had the time to look up to see who had just come in, a 20 dollar bill was slammed down on the counter he was working on. Magnus was in too much of a shock to catch on to what the person had said and just stared at the hand in front of him. A very nice hand, big and strong and… he shook himself out of his thoughts and looked up to meet the man’s eyes and ask him to please repeat whatever it was that he had said.

“Excuse me sir, I missed that. Could you….” was all that Magnus got out before he met the eyes of the most gorgeous man he had ever met and lost all ability to function like a normal professional human being.

 

Beautiful hazel-eyes were staring back at him, seemingly just as captured as himself, Magnus was glad to note, and the shop-owner cleared his throat which had suddenly grown very dry, before attempting to speak again.

“Could you repeat that, please?” he croaked and cursed internally. When had he become so bad at speaking to gorgeous men? He was Magnus fucking Bane for christ’s sake! He was smooth and able to get any man or woman he wanted into being with him without much hassle.

 

There was just something about this man though. Magnus hadn’t even heard a word he’d spoken and he was already about 99% certain this man was not entirely human. How _could_  he be? With eyes like that and cheekbones, that Magnus really wanted to run his thumb over, and those lips. Oh lord, those lips. It should be illegal to have such sensual lips. Really, this man must be a danger to society, walking around and making people think sinful thoughts while in their everyday life. Even upset, as he appeared, the man before him was _beautiful_  and Magnus found himself wanting to see him smile. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d survive it but he found himself wanting to see it all the same.

 

“Ehm, well.. I wanted to ask. Well, I said: How do I passive-aggressively say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?” the man repeated, a small blush now creeping up his neck. He seemed to have thought twice about what he’d said and the blush had now reached his cheeks, tainting them a light scarlet. Unfairly adorable. Magnus nodded along with him as he tried to gather his wits about him.

 

Then the words registered with him and he stopped abruptly.

_Wait what?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So small note for you all: Publishing day will be on Thursdays from now on. Maybe I'll post twice a week at times when I get too eager about a chapter to wait until Thursday though.
> 
> Tomorrow is midsummer here in Sweden and Sunday is my birthday (yay!), and so I'm leaving home in a couple of hours (I should probably start packing *cough*) to spend the weekend with some friends!
> 
> Anyway, I am actually very happy with how this chapter turned out and I'm hoping you like it too, please let me know in the comments!

“Your Majesty, the queen would like a word with you in the dining-room”

Alec groaned at the maid’s words but, dutiful as he was, marked the spot in his book and put it down on the bed. He gave the maid a small smile before making his way down to his mother.

*******

“Mother? You wanted to see me?”

Maryse looked up at him, and Alec knew that he wouldn’t like what she had to tell him the second he saw that she was smiling instead of the disappointed scowl she’d been wearing ever since he’d come out to his family when he was twenty. That was five years ago, and Alec hadn’t seen his mother smile at him ever since. In fact, if she could, she’d rather pretend he didn’t exist at all. Which is why he knew that smile meant bad news for him.

 

“Alec! Good, you’re here. I wanted to speak to you about the welcoming-dinner for your father’s arrival next week”, she said and Alec frowned at her. He knew nothing about planning a dinner, that was usually his mother’s or Isabelle’s job.

“Why? Izzy is handling all of that, isn’t she?” he questioned and Maryse waved him off with a roll of her eyes and her smile fell a bit at the mentioning of her only daughter.

“Yes, I would assume so. Your sister is... Quite the partier, as you well know, and she does enjoy ‘handling’ these type of things instead of leaving it to the professionals” she spoke with a sneer that had Alec’s frown deepening, he always hated how their mother spoke about Isabelle with such contempt. Especially since he knew how much it hurt his sister when she did.

“What I wanted to speak to you about, was your date”, Maryse explained and Alec raised his eyebrows in question.

“My date? I’m not seeing anyone at the moment?” he said, confused, an unease spread in the pit of his stomach as the smile returned to his mother’s face.

“Yes, I am aware. But I wanted to tell you that I have compiled a list of suitable candidates for you. Girls that would make wonderful possible wives now that your father is thinking of stepping down and you need to get married before taking the throne” she explained and Alec wanted to punch something. He really should have expected this. The queen had never been able to accept her son’s sexuality and denied it every chance she got. Taking a deep breath, Alec readied himself for the inevitable fight they were about to have.

“Mom, I’m gay. How many times do I have to tell you that I will not be marrying any woman, no matter how fantastic of a candidate you find her. I’m not attracted to women, at all”, he said, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive pose. Maryse sighed and shook her head as if he was saying the most ridiculous things and she was tired of hearing them.

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you are the crown prince of Idris. This _phase_  of yours was fine when you were younger, but it is time to grow up now! You will meet with the women I send to you, and you will give each and every one of them a proper chance to win your heart. I will not have you drag _shame_  onto this family and this kingdom because of some idea that you got into your head from one of your books!” she spoke, her voice stern and leaving no room for argument. Alec didn’t care though, he’d had enough.

“No! This is who I’ve always been. I am gay and always _have_  been gay. It’s not some phase that will all of a sudden disappear. The only reason you didn’t know before is because I _chose_  for you not to. But now everything is out in the open and I will not be going back into hiding just because you can’t find it in yourself to love your children for who they are!” he yelled.

 

He was entirely unprepared for the slap and flinched in pain when her hand struck his cheek with an almost brutal force. Alec brought a hand up to rub at the red mark and watched as his mother stormed out of the room, leaving her baffled son behind. The prince scoffed to himself, he couldn’t believe his own mother had just hit him just because he refused to hide who he was. Shaking his head in disbelief, he turned to walk back towards his room.

 

“You should probably buy her some flowers for tonight. You know, just to say you’re sorry” a voice called from behind him and Alec turned back around to find Raj, his mother’s assistant, standing there.

“Excuse me?” he questioned with furrowed brows. The other man shuffled his feet, looking more uncomfortable than Alec had ever seen him before.

“I know what she said isn’t okay. But you and I both know that she’ll be a nightmare to deal with until you apologize to her. There’s a flower shop just down the road that is supposed to be quite good” Raj said and Alec sighed. He knew the man was right, and it would really be easier on both him and his siblings, as well as the staff, if Alec did as he said and kept his bitch of a mother happy. At least until his father came home and could deal with her in their stead.

 

With a short nod, he walked out in the direction of the flower shop, still fuming slightly over his mother’s words.

 

_Oh he’d buy her flowers alright._

 

With a small smile on his face, he made a decision, opened the door to the shop and strode up to the man standing hunched over something by the register. He slammed down a 20 dollar bill to get the man’s attention.

“How do I say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?” he asked, his anger returning some as he was reminded of just why he had to buy these flowers to begin with.

 

The man just stared at his hand for a moment, and Alec was just about to ask him if everything was alright when he seemed to shake himself out of his day-dream and looked up at the prince with an apologetic smile.

“Excuse me, sir, I missed that. Could you…” The second Alec’s eyes met the beautiful dark brown ones of the man before him, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. It felt like somehow time had stopped and for the life of him, Alec couldn’t stop staring. He let his eyes wander over the man’s face and took in the perfectly applied eyeliner, the hint of glitter that tainted the man’s beautifully sculptured cheekbones and the lips that currently formed a slight “o” in surprise for some reason that Alec presumed was because the man recognized him as the crown prince of Idris, but was too caught up in this perfect example of human beauty to reflect more over.

 

The prince was brought back to reality when the man cleared his throat. He was just about to apologize for staring, really Alec had no idea what had gotten into him, he was never this weird and creepy around people. Not that he’d actually met anyone he’d been this attracted to in like… ever, but that was besides the point. Maybe he was getting sick? That would explain why his whole body suddenly felt strangely hot, or why his heart was beating a mile a minute. Maybe he could discreetly ask Isabelle about it when he got home, without actually telling her about what had happened. Maybe just in general ask her how she felt the first time she saw Meliorn, before he turned out to be a cheating asshole, that is.

Alec quickly realized he’d been staring again, just as he’d been about to apologise for doing just that, and forced himself to listen to what the man was saying.

“Could you repeat that, please?” the man said in this raspy voice that made Alec want to groan in appreciation. Really, it wasn’t fair that he’d only just met this man and already he was having such a ridiculously strong effect on him. Now he was looking expectantly up at Alec and the prince realised he was waiting for him to speak. After taking a second to remember why in the world he’d walked into the shop to begin with, Alec finally said:

“Ehm, well.. I wanted to ask. Well, I said: How do I passive-aggressively say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?” and instantly regretted everything that had lead up to this moment. He meets this gorgeous man who, had he not been the most socially awkward man to ever exist, he would have loved to ask out on a date, and the first thing he does is to ask him how to say “fuck you” in flowers? Seriously, life? _Seriously?_  Why couldn’t Alec have the same luck as Isabelle. She could meet attractive people pretty much anywhere and had no trouble at all speaking to them.

 

Alec opened his mouth to say something, he didn’t know exactly what but something that would allow him to run out of the shop and back to his room to wallow in self-pity, but the man beat him to it.

“Oh! You mean like a bouquet that means ‘fuck you’ but whoever you’re giving them to has no clue about it?” he asked, looking like a light had just gone up for him. Alec hadn’t even realised they’d been standing in silence for a few seconds, too caught up in beating himself up, and found himself nodding in answer.

“I can do that! Can I ask who the flowers are for or is that striktly confidential information?” the man gave him a wink that had Alec’s cheeks heating up again and the prince shook his head slightly.

“Eh, no it’s…  it’s not confidential or anything. They’re for… ehm, for my mother actually” he answered and felt a slight pride over not having stumbled too much over his words. The man gave a small laugh, and Alec couldn’t help but think it was the most wonderful sound he’d ever heard. The corners of his own mouth tugged and the prince let a small smile bloom on his own face in answer.

“What did she do, not approve of your girlfriend or something?” the man said casually and Alec made a face at the term before he could stop himself. The smile on the man’s face then changed into a knowing one.

“Oh, she didn’t approve of your _boyfriend_  then?” he asked and Alec shook his head at that.

“Ehm, no. Actually she… She wanted me to bring a ‘nice girl’ to this dinner for my father but.. Well, I… I came out to my family five years ago but she just... “

“She won’t accept it?” the man offered for him and Alec nodded. He had no idea why he was telling all of this to this guy. He was only here to buy some flowers, after all. There was just something about him that made Alec feel like he could safely say anything to him without getting judged or have it spread to some of the gossip-magazines that always liked to write about his family. Not Alec, in particular, since he was usually pretty boring and not at all newsworthy, but his family overall.

 

“Okay, so for this bouquet we’re going to need some Geraniums, they symbolize ‘stupidity’ and obviously that is something we’re going to need in this bouquet” the man said, walking over to some purple flowers and Alec couldn’t help the amused smile that spread over his face at the description.

“Foxglove is also important, so convey your insincerity in giving her flowers at all” he continued, picking up another purple flower. This one was a bit taller than the former and Alec found himself liking all the purple in the bouquet. Mostly because it was the colour that many associated with the LGBT+ community that his mother was no non-accepting of. He nodded for the man to continue and then followed him over to a vibrant yellow flower. The man picked up two of them and placed them in his hands with the others before speaking.

“You know, it’s a good thing you came in the summer-time instead of spring, because this flower has the most beautiful bloom in June and I would hate for this bouquet to be anything but perfect” he said and gave Alec a wink before continuing on his explanation:

“It’s yellow carnations, and they symbolize ‘you have disappointed me’. I thought it was fitting, don’t you think?” he smiled.

“Yeah” Alec breathed out before clearing his throat. Apparently he had now lost his ability to speak as well. _Great_.

“We could also include some meadowsweet, for ‘uselessness’?” he said and pointed towards a white flower with a questioning brow. Alec just gave him a nod of consent and the man strode over and picked some of the flowers up. He walked back to the work-table by the register and put all the flowers down, regarding them with a slight frown.

“Is something wrong?” Alec asked and the man shook his head as he reached up to scratch at his head.

“I just feel like something is missing… But I don’t…” he said and stopped as he looked up and seemed to spot something right behind Alec. A delighted smile spread across his face and he rounded the table to go pick up some orange flowers. He held them up to Alec as if they were a trophy as he walked back to the station.

“Orange lilies! That’s what we needed to complete it. They symbolise ‘hatred’, which I’m hoping you don’t think is too much because the orange will really make this bouquet quite beautiful” he explained and Alec couldn’t help but laugh at the pleading look on the man’s face.

“I don’t mind” he said and his heart did a flip in his chest as the man rewarded him with a huge, happy, smile.

“Great! Now let me just bind this together for you” he said and Alec just gave yet another nod and walked up to the register to prepare for payment. He couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that this would probably be the last time he’d see the man, since he wasn’t in a habit of buying flowers all too often. The thought made him realize that he didn’t even know his name. He was just about to rectify this mistake, when a voice was heard from the back of the store.

 

“Magnus, I just checked on the roses and they should be on time. They actually found it kind of odd that you’d ordered them more than six months before delivery-date but assured me they would have them here in perfect time. By the way, the 4th of July is coming up and… oh hello”

The woman who’d just walked in regarded Alec with a smile and Alec gave her an awkward wave in greeting. The man looked up at the sound of her voice and his smile grew a little.

“Catarina, hi! This is… Oh where are my manners. I’m so sorry, sir, I don’t think we were formally introduced. I’m Magnus, Magnus Bane, the owner of this fabulous establishment” he said and wiped his hand on his apron before reaching out to take Alec’s hand.

“Alec. Alec Lightwood” the prince stuttered and grasped Magnus’ hand. The moment his large hand engulfed the smaller one of the shop-owner, Alec felt a shiver run through his body. Magnus held on to his hand a little longer than was necessary, his thumb running over Alec’s knuckles in small, sensual, movements.

“Alec… Short for Alexander, I presume?” he said and Alec wanted to groan in appreciation of the sound of his name on this beautiful man’s lips. He felt a flush burn on his skin and nodded awkwardly. Magnus released his hand to continue working on the bouquet and Alec turned back to look at the girl, Catarina apparently. She was looking between the two of them with a raised eyebrow, a knowing smile playing on her lips, and Alec kind of wanted to ram his head into the wall. He had just met Magnus and already people could see that he was crushing hard on the man, this was a _disaster_.

 

“So, since your mother is expecting you to bring a date to this dinner and you’re obviously not going to bring a girl, who’s the lucky guy?” Magnus asked, most likely just trying to make easy conversation, and Alec had no idea what had gotten into him but before he could even register what he was doing, he said:

“Actually… would you want to maybe go?” and it was so _not him_  to ask such a thing of a man he barely knew but found highly attractive. He didn’t even know if Magnus swung his way for crying out loud. Oh by the angel, Alec had managed to completely make a fool out of himself. Maybe he could ask one of the guards back at the house to kill him out of pure mercy? Or at least knock him out a little so he could claim temporary insanity?

Izzy was going to have a field day when she found out about this. Why wasn’t he more smooth? Why did he have to be born with some type of chronic awkwardness-symptom that would never go away and only got worse in the presence of beautiful men? It was so unfair and Alec cursed whoever decided that would be a good trait to give to anyone.

 

He was so caught up in regretting his entire existence, that he missed Magnus’ reply completely and was only brought back by the questioning sound of his name.

“Alexander? Are you okay?” Magnus said and Alec shook his head to clear it some before speaking:

“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I understand if you don’t… I mean it’s okay if… It’s totally okay if you’re not into guys or just, you know, don’t want to go out with me or whatever. It’s completely fine” he rambled and really wished that Magnus would just finish up the bouquet so that he could pay and then run out of the shop, away from the embarrassment that was himself.

 

Suddenly there was a hand on his arm and Alec stilled, watching it for a moment before looking up and meeting Magnus’ confused, yet still very beautiful, eyes.

“I said: ‘I’d love that.’ “ he clarified and Alec just stared at him for a moment, a smile blooming on his face that he did nothing to stop.

“Really?” he asked and Magnus gave a small laugh as he nodded.

“Of course. Though, I do feel like maybe we should have a proper date just the two of us before I meet the parents, don’t you think?” he said and Alec could see the slight hesitation on his face. Clearing his throat, the prince hurried to reassure him:

“Yeah, yeah that sounds like a good idea. Are you… I mean, would you like to maybe go for breakfast tomorrow or something?” he asked, biting his lip and wondering if maybe he sounded too eager? Magnus just gave a nod, smiling up at him before reaching out towards a stack of business-cards. He picked one up, turned it over to write something on the back, and handed it to Alec.

“That sounds good. Here’s my number. Why don’t you send me a text with the time and place and I’ll meet you there?” he said and Alec pocketed the card with a smile and nod in confirmation.

 

The shop-owner finished up the bouquet with a black bow and wrapped it up for Alec before handing it over with a smile.

“This one is on the house.” he held up a hand to stop Alec’s protest and continued:

“You can pay me back at breakfast tomorrow. Have a nice day, Alexander and I’ll see you tomorrow” he said with a warm smile that made Alec’s stomach flutter. The prince smiled back at Magnus.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Magnus.” he said before turning to walk out of the store.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Hi guys!  
> **  
>  So you're getting an extra chapter this week (though it's kind of short, I'm afraid) just because today is my birthday and I wanted to celebrate it with Magnus freaking out over Alec being a prince! ;)
> 
>  
> 
> **I also just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the support and love I've gotten from you all so far, I am completely blown away! You are all so amazing, you really are!**
> 
>  
> 
> **I hope you like it, and if you're in Sweden then I hope you had an amazing midsummer-weekend!**

Magnus watched Alec walk out of the shop, a dreamy sigh leaving his lips as the closing door hid him from view.

“Catarina, do you believe in love at first sight?” he said, eyes still locked on the door where the most adorable, gorgeous, man he’d ever met had just left. His best friend laughed at him.

“Not really, no. I do believe in lust at first sight though and you, my dear friend, has a case of just such a thing. Prince charming got you good, huh?” she said and Magnus finally turned to look at her, a smile playing on his lips as a he danced around the shop.

“He really was like a prince, wasn’t he? Handsome, kind and just perfect in all ways. The prince of my heart. And we’re going on a date, Cat. He asked me out!” he gave her a big happy smile. Catarina shook her head at his words.

“No, I mean, he is a literal prince. That was Alec Lightwood, Crown prince of Idris. Didn’t you know that? I thought you read every gossip-magazine in existence?” she asked, frowning in confusion over her friend’s apparent lack of knowledge on the subject. Magnus froze mid-twirl and stared at Catarina.

 

_Alec was a what now?_

 

“Excuse me, Darling, I think I must have something in my ears because I thought you just said Alec, _that_  Alec” he pointed in the direction of the man before continuing:  
“Is a _prince_ ”.

 

Catarina just laughed at him and nodded in confirmation. Magnus was about 99 percent sure he was going to faint because tomorrow morning, he would be going on a breakfast date with a _prince_. Dear Lord, he’d been nervous enough about what to wear when Alec was still just a normal human being. A devastatingly handsome and adorable human being but still. Now…

“Oh my GOD, Cat! What do I do!? And I told him to _text_  me! Oh dear, what if he just asked me out to breakfast to keep me from telling the press about the flowers? Oh my, oh shit. Catarina stop laughing at me! This is a crisis! I’m going on a date, if it even _is_  a real date and not some kind of ‘please don’t tell the press I bought my mother, THE QUEEN, flowers that mean ‘fuck you’’-thing, with A PRINCE! And how are you not freaking out about this!? WHY ARE YOU SO CALM!?”

Magnus was working himself up to a panic-attack, pacing back and forth on the floor. Should he cancel and just tell Alec that of course he wouldn’t say anything to the press? Maybe that would be the best way to avoid letting this go any further than it already had? Of course, Alec could have really meant a date and then Magnus would be throwing away a chance to go on a date with a beautiful and amazing man, prince or not, and that would be a terrible shame. He would really have to figure out if it really _was_  a date they were going on somehow.

 

“MAGNUS!”

The shop owner snapped out of his inner monologue and looked up at his friend, who was smiling warmly at him.

“Do you really think that he would have asked you to be his date for the dinner that his mother specifically told him to bring a _woman_  to if he was only doing it to avoid a scandal in the press? You’re not exactly the type to blend in, honey, and I’m pretty sure having you there is going to cause a bigger scandal than him buying ‘fuck you’-flowers for the queen,” Catarina said and Magnus couldn’t help but think that she was right. Inviting him, a _man_ , to the dinner where Alec’s obviously homophobic mother would be wasn’t really the best way to avoid a scandal.

“You’re right, I guess” he nodded.

Magnus still couldn’t completely wrap his head around the fact that Alec apparently was a _prince_ , but he had calmed down some from her words and realized that Catarina never answered his question.

“Wait a minute, you never answered why you were so calm about my date being royal? What are you not telling me?” he said and pointed an accusing finger towards his friend.

“Well, his sister came into the shop a couple of days ago, when you were out on a delivery, to order flowers for that dinner you’re apparently going to and I’ve been helping her out with different arrangements and stuff. Believe me, I was nervous as hell when I realized who she was, but then she was just… another human being you know. Just another customer. Anyway, Alec isn’t in a lot of magazines but I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in you for not recognizing him. Though maybe that was for the best?” she winked at him and Magnus’ eyes flew open at her explanation.

“Wait a second here now, are you telling me that _the_  Isabelle, princess of Idris, came into the store and ordered flowers? Oh my GOD Catarina! She’s like a fashion-guru! She’s absolutely _amazing_! I used to dream about making her clothes! YOU KNEW ALL OF THIS AND DIDN’T TELL ME SHE ORDERED FLOWERS FROM US!?” he was pretty much screaming every word now and he _knew_  he needed to calm down, but _really Catarina!?_

 

His friend just shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him.

“If you know so much about Isabelle Lightwood, how come the last name didn’t register with you when the prince introduced himself?” she countered and Magnus threw his arms up in the air and glared at her.

“Really, Cat? You think I was able to think about _other people_  while staring into the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen? I wasn’t thinking about who his _sister_  might be, I was too caught up in the fact that he was freaking beautiful when he blushed! His last name didn’t even register in my mind!” he said, surprised that Catarina would even ask him such a question. Had she not _seen_  Alec? How could anyone with a brain think of someone else in his presence? Alexander Lightwood was too captivating to make room for anything or anyone else.

 

That thought was what made Magnus decide that it really didn’t matter if Alec was a prince or not, the fact remained that he was the most beautiful and captivating man Magnus had ever met and the shop owner wanted to know more about him. He wanted to know as much as he possibly could.

 

Magnus sighed and ran one hand through his hair, messing it up some from where it had been perfectly styled, and looked over to where Catarina was just watching him with a fond smile.

“I don’t even care anymore that he’s royal, though I’m certain it will cause some issues in whatever future we might have together depending on the laws of idris. I’m still kind of scared that this might be just some ‘please don’t make a story out of me’-thing, but... I like him, Cat. I just met him for a couple of minutes and I already like him enough to consider the laws of another country!” he said, slightly nervous at how fast his heart had gotten attached. Catarina was with him in a second and Magnus gratefully accepted the hug that his friend engulfed him in.

“I know this is new to you, Magnus, but just take it one step at a time. Don’t get ahead of yourself on this one, okay? Just focus on what you’re going to wear to breakfast tomorrow and then take it from there.” Catarina said with a warm smile as she stepped away from him. She reached up to fix Magnus’ hair and the shop owner gave her a small smile of his own.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right” he said with a small nod and Catarina patted him on the arm before going back to work on the different orders they needed to get logged.

  
Now he would just have to wait for Alec to actually text him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question:  
> I'm thinking of adding in Izzy's relationship soon as well, or start one off anyway, and I was wondering if you wanted me to make it Clary/Izzy or Lydia/Izzy. Please let me know in the comments! They will only have a side-part in the story, with maybe one POV or two, but they will be there quite a lot since I love Izzy so freaking much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my sweets,  
> First of all: Thank you all so much for the beautiful birthday-wishes!  
> Second of all: I'm so sorry that this is so horribly late! I've been at the coast with my family and frankly I haven't had any motivation or inspiration to write _at all_ this week. Then I woke up with a massive headache on Thursday and could hardly stand doing my actual job, let alone write anything.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with how this chapter turned out but before you ask: No, Jace and Lydia will not be a couple. I think it's important to have characters that can feel attraction to another person without them automatically getting together with them. Jace and Lydia will remain amazing friends and nothing more. Jace is in this story a man with a small crush (that's slowly fading) and not some typical creepy "good guy" that is trying to force Lydia into being with her even though she's told him "no". Jace is also a hopeless romantic that is repressed in the TV-show bc of his shadowhunter-life, and you can never convince me otherwise! (a)
> 
> (Also: Clizzy won my little poll, so that's what I'm doing, I'm sorry if this upsets anyone! I might do Lydia/Izzy in another story though)
> 
>  
> 
> **I hope you enjoy it and once again, I'm so sorry about the delay!**

The second Alec came back home, or what the Royal family of Idris called “home” during the months of summer when Idris was too hot and too filled with tourists for them to be in their _real_  home anyway, he ran up the stairs to his room and put the flower-bouquet down on his desk before throwing himself on the bed with a smile he still couldn’t keep off of his face. He contemplated calling his sister, but quickly decided that he’d see her in a couple of hours for dinner anyway so he might as well take this opportunity of good mood and call his best friend who’d been forced to stay back in Idris over the summer.

 

Picking up his phone, Alec gave one last attempt to school his features into something less giddy before dialing the number.

“Jace speaking,” was the almost immediate yet slightly distracted answer on the other end and Alec felt himself smile at the familiar voice of his friend.

“Hi, am I interrupting anything?” he asked and his smile widened at the happy sound Jace let out at his words.

“Oh my _god_ , Alec! It’s been forever! What on earth have you been up to?” he demanded and Alec chuckled at him.

“Jace, I’ve only been here for two weeks and we talked just a couple of days ago” he said. He could almost see his friend’s dismissive gesture at his words.

“Well I missed you. There’s a new guard here and she’s _hot_  Alec and I had no one to bother about her because Izzy has been too busy with that dinner thing and you weren’t here either!” Jace whined and Alec heard the small ‘oof’ he let out as he threw himself on the bed. Alec couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the other’s antics.

“You mean to tell me you’ve managed to fall in love during this small amount of time?” Alec couldn’t help the fond smile that spread on his lips at that. Jace had always fallen in love so easily and then just ended up crushed just as easily, leaving Alec to clean up the mess left behind when his friend’s heart was crushed once again.

“No. Well, I haven’t _fallen in love_  per say, she’s just amazing and _hot_ , Alec. I could have fallen in love with her, I’m pretty sure, but she’s not interested in me in that way” he sighed and it was a testament to how well Alec knew his friend that he was able tell the second Jace shrugged his shoulders in an accepting manner.

“How do you know she doesn’t like you in that way? Also, how do you know you’re not in love? You sound pretty smitten to me?” he asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

“I asked her out, and she said no. I was brought up to respect a man or woman’s wishes, Alec. Only douchebags push for something after being told ‘no’ once” he said, and Alec smiled at his words. Jace may be a hopeless romantic and sometimes overly sure of himself, but he was always respectful of the people he pursued. It was a rare quality nowadays, and it made Alec proud to call him his friend.

“And love… You know you’ve met someone who immediately steals our heart, when you find yourself unable to think properly around them. When you spend hours upon hours just thinking about them. When just the thought of making them smile is all that matters. You know you’re in the risk of falling in love when you find yourself wanting to know every little thing about them and to share every secret about yourself in return”, Jace explained and Alec couldn’t help the image of a smiling Magnus that conjured itself in his mind. He thought of how he’d explained about his mother’s reluctance to accept his sexuality, how he’d been unable to concentrate on anything other than how graciously Magnus had moved around the shop. His hand traveled down to lay over the pocket where the business-card with the shop-owner’s number on it lay.

“And you didn’t feel that for this girl?” he asked, already knowing the answer but curious to hear the words all the same.

“Well, no. Lydia really is amazing, don’t get me wrong. She’s strong-willed, she’s an amazing fighter, has a beautiful heart and she’s hot as hell, but no. There were butterflies the first time I saw her, but now… I mean I think it’s because she said that she didn’t feel that way and I just kind of had to accept that? It’s not like it disappeared right away and sometimes I find myself wishing things were different, but it’s kind of fading away, you know?” Jace said, from the sounds of it he was rolling around in the bed while talking, not one to ever be able to lay still. Alec smiled at his words.

“You’re a really good guy, you know” he couldn’t help but say, and apparently that’s what tipped Jace off to the fact that something was different with him, because the next words out of his friend’s mouth were:

“Yeah, I’m awesome and anyone would be lucky to have me, I know. Now, would you care to explain to me why you are suddenly so interested in how it feels to fall in love?”

Alec could hear the smug smile in Jace’s voice and groaned out loud because _of course_ Jace would know, he always did. His friend laughed at him.

“You met someone, didn’t you?” he said and Alec covered his face with his hand to fight of the blush creeping up his face. He nodded, before remembering Jace couldn’t see him and made an affirmative noise instead.

“Hah! I knew it! You never want to listen to me talk about girls otherwise! So, who is he? Where did you meet?” he asked, sounding more excited about this than Alec was entirely comfortable with.

 

He had only just met Magnus, and wasn’t even sure the other man would still like him once he got to know Alec. He really didn’t want to jinx it by telling everybody just yet. It seemed Jace had understood the meaning of his silence, though, because before Alec could even open his mouth to say anything, his friend continued:

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it just yet, just let me know when and if you want to talk and I’m here to listen! Just, please remember that you deserve to be happy, no matter what Maryse says, okay? Don’t give this up just because she wouldn’t approve.” he said and Alec couldn’t help but wonder if the other man could read his thoughts at times, because he always did this. He always managed to understand exactly how Alec felt without the prince having to say anything.

“Thank you” he just said, a grateful smile spreading on his lips.

“Anytime, brother”, Jace answered and there was a sound in the background before he continued:

“I have to go, they are calling us out for training. I’ll see you in a few weeks though, okay?” he said and Alec made an affirmative noise before hanging up the phone.

 

He stared down at his phone for a while after, wondering just how much time needed to pass before he could text Magnus about their breakfast date in the morning. What was expected in these situations? Alec hadn’t gone on many dates and _never_ on a breakfast date, so he really was at a loss on this.

 

Then the bouquet on the desk caught his attention and he smiled a little.

_Well, I guess I better get those in a vase in time for dinner_ , he thought and made his way down towards the kitchen.  
  
***

 

Alec spent the next couple of hours trying to read his book, but his mind kept going back to Magnus and he couldn’t help but wonder if it had gone an acceptable amount of time for him to text the shop owner now. A look at the big clock on his wall told him it was less than an hour left until he’d be called down for dinner, which meant it had been about three hours since he’d left the shop. Alec decided that it would be okay for him to at the very least write Magnus a message to make sure the shop owner had his number as well, so he picked up his phone and typed out a quick text to the number he’d saved into his phone as soon as he’d finished talking to Jace.

 

**[To: Magnus Bane - 18.06]**

_Hey, Just thought you might need my number too._

_/ Alec_

 

He sent it before he had time to change his mind and put his phone away as soon as he was finished, not daring to look at it any longer. Picking up the book again, Alec decided to try and read some more before dinner, but was interrupted by his phone buzzing before he could even open the first page. He picked it up to find a message from Magnus. Smiling, the prince unlocked his phone to read the full message:

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.07]**

_Alexander!_

_I was just wondering when I was going to be hearing from you. I’m glad you decided to make good use of my number._

 

Alec smiled down at the text and was just about to type out a response when his phone buzzed with two more messages in a row.

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.07]**

_It would have been fine if you had changed your mind though, just so you know. I’m very happy you didn’t though._

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.07]**

_Unless you did?_

 

Alec couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips at Magnus’ obvious nervousness. The man had seemed so calm and collected, it was quite a relief to see that he was capable of being just as nervous as Alec was. He hurried to type out a response though, not wanting to keep Magnus waiting.

 

**[To: Magnus Bane - 18.08]**

_I haven’t changed my mind, no._

 

He sent his reply and frowned a little at how short he sounded. Maybe Magnus would think he was upset with him? Alec really hated texting, he’d never been good at it and people always told him he sounded slightly irritated in them.

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.09]**

_Well then, that is great news, my dear! When and where am I to meet you tomorrow?_

 

Alec panicked for a minute, he really hadn’t thought this through at all. Where on earth should they go for breakfast? He really should have planned this before contacting Magnus. Maybe he could quickly call Izzy and ask her where a good place to eat breakfast would be? He hadn’t even noticed that he’d been thinking and panicking about this for quite some time, and was startled when his phone buzzed with another message:

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.15]**

_I know this great little breakfast cart in the park where they serve my favorite tea. If you don’t have any other special place in mind, I’d love to take you there?_

 

Alec really could have kissed Magnus in that moment, just for saving him from the awkwardness of having to admit that he hadn’t ever been on a breakfast-date and thus had no clue what a good place to go on one would be.

 

**[To: Magnus Bane - 18.15]**

_That sounds good! Send me the address? Does 9 am work for you?_

 

He read through his message and gave a satisfied nod before sending it. He needed to get into the shower before dinner, so he threw his phone on the bed and got undressed as he walked towards the bathroom, a smile blooming on his lips.

 

***

 

Alec didn’t know what he’d been expecting when he got downstairs for dinner, but it sure as hell wasn’t for his mother to engulf him in a hug. He stood frozen as her arms circled him and tried really hard not to flinch as she reached up to press a kiss to his cheek. This was so out of character for her and Alec wondered who type of creature had possessed his mother to turn her into this… _motherly_  person?

“Thank you for the flowers, Alec” she said and Alec suddenly had to hold back a laugh because his mother had just hugged and kissed him to thank him for a bouquet that meant ‘fuck you’.

Clearing his throat, he nodded at her in acknowledgement.

“Where did you get them, anyways? They look so fresh and, frankly, quite amazing”

He looked up to see his sister sitting at the table studying the bouquet that he’d put in the middle of the dining-table a couple of hours earlier.

“‘Magnificent Bane’s’ just down the road” he said and then watched in horror as she gave him a calculating look before studying the bouquet closer. Alec hurried to sit down on the opposite side of the table and, trying to drag her attention to another subject, he asked her about her day. Isabelle ignored him in favor of of studying each flower though and Alec felt a rising panic flare in his chest when she finally looked up at him with a surprised and slightly amused look on her face.

“They are..”

“... very professional? Yep, they are very good at flower-things!” he interrupted before she could finish he sentence and Isabelle smiled knowingly at him before nodding.

“Yes, that they are. I’m using them for the floral-decorations for the dinner next week. Catarina is very good at what she does” she said and Alec thanked whoever decided to give him an understanding sister that she hadn’t blown his secret. He nodded in agreement. Not that he had any idea weather or not Catarina was any good at her job, he was just very grateful to have the subject over on safe waters.

 

“So, Alec, have you given any more thoughts to what we discussed this afternoon?” his mother interrupted their conversation and Alec stared at the bouquet in front of him as if to get the message across clearer to her. He was just about to say that he would still not be bringing any of her girls as a date to the dinner, when he realized that he _would_  be bringing a date. _Magnus_.

“Actually, I met someone and I kind of asked them to be my date to the dinner. I hope that’s alright?” he said, careful to avoid naming any pronouns. He knew that his mother was bound to find out sooner or later, but he was kind of hoping that their father would be there to ease her anger when that happened. And maybe, you know, remind the _Queen_ that Idris actually didn't have any law stating that the crown prince or princess _had_ to marry a person of the other sex in order to be able to take over the crown. That was just a personal request of his mother and Alec could care less about what she wanted in that department. Once, he'd been prepared to do anything just to make her proud. But ever since he'd come out and she'd immediately started treating him as if he was worth less than the dirt on her shoe, that desire to please had disappeared.

His mother seemed delighted by his news, however, almost as if she thought he’d been cured from his homosexuality over the course of just a few hours. It really was amazing how disgusted Alec could be by his own mother’s smile.

“Oh! This Catarina from the flower shop, I presume?” she smiled at him and before Alec even had a second to reply, not that he had any idea what he would have said if he _had_  gotten the chance, she continued:

“That’s _wonderful_! I told you that you’d meet a nice girl some day and all of this nonsense about liking boys would go away. I’m so happy for you! Isabelle, make sure you put your brother up with a plus one, will you?”

 

His sister seemed ready to intervene and tell their mother off for, once again, disregarding her brother’s sexuality, but Alec gave a small but firm shake of the head as if to tell her to please not do that and instead she just shrugged and proceeded to tell them about her day, obviously trying to keep the subject far from Alec’s love-life.

 

_By the angel how I love my siste_ r, he thought.

 

***

 

The dinner went on without any spectacular events and Alec found himself back in his room an hour later, completely wiped out and ready for bed. He saw his phone lying on the bed and realized he never checked for a response from Magnus before going down to dinner earlier. Unlocking it, he found three messages sent at different times:

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 18.16]**

_Can we make it 8.30 am instead? I have to open up the shop at 11 and would hate to have to rush._

 

The second one was just the address to the breakfast-place they were meeting at, the third one, however, had Alec smiling down at his phone.

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 19.50]**

_I assume you had something important to take care of. I had a long day and am going to bed, so I do hope 8.30 will suit you. If not, then I will be waiting for you from that time anyway._

_Goodnight, Alexander. I’ll see you tomorrow_

 

He hurried to type out an answer, hoping Magnus hadn’t fallen asleep just yet.

 

**[To: Magnus Bane - 20.04]**

_I’m sorry, I had to take a shower and then go down to the family-dinner. I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. 8.30 is great for me, I’ll see you then!_

_Goodnight, Magnus_

 

He put his phone down and stripped down to his boxers before going into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he got back out, his phone was lighting up with a new message:

 

**[From: Magnus Bane - 20.07]**

_You’ll have to tell me how your mother took the bouquet tomorrow, I can’t wait to hear that!_

_Sweet dreams, Alexander_

 

Alec blushed at the last words and typed out a quick:

 

**[To: Magnus Bane - 20.07]**

_Of course_

 

Before pressing send.

 

He was just crawling under the covers to settle in for the night, when his door burst open and his sister stormed in.

“I just spoke to Catarina, I can not _believe_  you bought mom a ‘fuck you’-bouquet _and_  are bringing _Magnus Bane_  to the dinner!? Who are you and what have you done to my brother!?” she demanded and Alec couldn’t do anything but stare at her in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry about this not containing the date just yet! There was just a couple of other things I wanted to include here before that, since this is still the beginning of the story I am still introducing some characters and that takes scenes and time. I hope you don't mind too much. I will try to keep to schedule next week!
> 
>  
> 
> _Also: This was my first time writing texting-conversation, I hope it came across okay and clear enough?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> I'm so so sorry that this chapter is _weeks_ late! I just went on summer-leave and had a bunch of work to get done before that. I haven't left this story, I really haven't, I was just too busy to write. Hopefully it won't happen again!
> 
> Anyway, this time it's time for the date, enjoy and come scream at me about on Tumblr if you'd like: **PrincessOfMalec**
> 
> Also: I'm overwhelmed at all the love this fic has gotten. Seriously, it means so much and really motivates me to write more and longer chapters. Thank you so much! <3

It took Alec about 20 seconds to process what his sister had just said and when he finally did, he answered with an intelligent:

“Huh?”

Isabelle sighed and closed the door before jumping up on the bed. She made herself comfortable beside Alec, crawling under the covers with him and Alec realized his sister was obviously planning on staying the night in his room. Which meant she wouldn’t stop pestering him until he gave her every single detail of what had happened.

“I called Catarina. She’s been teaching me some things about flower-meanings and I thought I recognized the meaning of some of the flowers in the bouquet you gave mom”, she started and Alec raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘really, Izzy?’

“I was curious”, she explained with a shrug before continuing:

“She told me that my brother had apparently come in earlier today and asked for a bouquet meaning ‘fuck you’. Now, normally I would assume she was mistaken, because the Alec Lightwood that I know would never do anything like that. But alas I had the evidence right in front of me earlier, so there was no denying it, was there?”

Alec felt a flush rise on his neck and mumbled a quiet ‘no’ at that.

“What I found even _more_  interesting was that she told me that she wasn’t the one to handle your order, Magnus Bane was. Magnus Bane, the very hot and very much bisexual _owner_  of the flower shop. I, being the fantastic investigative sister that I am, pretty quickly realized that that must be the _someone_  you told mom you invited to the dinner”, she continued and gave him a meaningful look. Alec couldn’t help but fiddle nervously with the covers as he rose some to sit back against the headboard of the bed.

 

Isabelle stayed quiet for a few seconds and Alec realized she was waiting for him to reply. Clearing his throat, he decided to tell her the truth.

“It just kind of slipped out. The invitation, I mean. I… I don’t do that, you _know_  I don’t do that, but I… well… I wanted to see him again and then he brought up the dinner and asked who I was taking as my date and I just… I asked him if he wanted to go”, he stumbled over his words, still slightly shocked himself at what had happened. Happy, but shocked.

He looked up to find his sister smiling at him.

“I’m happy for you, big brother”, was all she said and Alec found himself confused.

“You… you’re not going to force details out of me?” he asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. Izzy _always_  wanted details when Alec was interested in someone. Granted, that had only happened two times before and Alec wasn’t sure if that was enough to determine a pattern, but Alec was pretty sure that her not pestering him for more information was strange. His sister only shook her head and leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek and the prince smiled at the familiar gesture.

“I’m saving that for tomorrow after your date”, she whispered and Alec groaned loudly.

“Is there anything this woman _didn’t_  tell you!?” he asked. Alec wondered if maybe he could ask Magnus to ensure that Catarina didn’t disclose every piece of information to his sister. You know, for privacy and ‘my sister is too nosy for my sanity’-reasons?

 

Isabelle giggled at his words.

“Nope!” she said with a gleeful smile before laying down and getting comfortable beside him. Alec laid down with a sigh and closed his eyes. Just before he drifted off to the land of dreams, he heard his sister’s voice in the room:

“I’m deciding your outfit for tomorrow”, she stated and Alec really didn’t have any objections to that, especially since he had no idea what to wear to a breakfast date.

 

*******

 

Magnus threw another pair of pants on the bed, running a hand through his hair and sighing. He’d had the perfect outfit planned out for today, but then a seam had burst in his shirt when he’d put it on an hour earlier and he was forced to change his entire outfit. Picking up his phone, he decided that he needed an outsider’s opinion.

“Cat, I need your help. I have a life or death situation”, he said as soon as the call connected. His friend groaned on the other end and normally Magnus would have apologized for waking her up, but this time he was in desperate need of her help and sleep could wait where his wardrobe-emergency could not.

“Magnus. Stop stressing over this. It’s just a breakfast for crying out loud, what could possibly be important enough for you to wake me up at…” she sighed and Magnus assumed she’d looked at the time “7am Magnus, really? How early are you meeting this guy?” she questioned and Magnus made a dismissive gesture at her words.

“A seam broke in my blue silk-shirt, Cat. It was perfect and now I can’t wear it! And it’s not _just_  a breakfast. It’s a breakfast _date_  with the most beautiful man on earth and it needs to go perfectly! I need your help with what to wear”, he ranted and blatantly ignored the typical eye-roll sigh that came from the other end.

“Wear the maroon shirt with the golden details”, she said and Magnus dove back into his closet to find it.

“What pants? They need to look kind of casual yet still show off my best… feature, if you know what I mean”, he asked as he picked out the hanger with the mentioned shirt on to inspect it. Catarina was right, it would look good. Maroon, a regal color and maybe some…

“What do you think about the indigo colored velvet pants?” he said as he spotted them and picked them up to hold by the shirt.

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’m going to sleep now, have a good breakfast Mags”, was the answer from the other end before the line went dead.

 

Magnus gave the two garments one last look before nodding to himself and stepping back out into his bedroom to change.

 

*******

Cursing his sister under his breath, Alec ran down the streets of New York to reach the park on time. Magnus had _specifically_  asked for an earlier time so that he wouldn’t have to stress before he had to go open up the shop and Alec _had_  been up on time. He’d even been ready on time, but then Izzy had decided that she needed to fix his hair and that his shirt needed changing _again_. So now he was late and frustrated. He was starting to sweat through the green shirt his sister had chosen for him too and wasn’t that just _perfect!_ Magnus would find him absolutely disgusting and would never want to see him ever again.

 

He panted as he reached the coffee-place Magnus had mentioned, what looked like a RV standing in a beautiful clearing with trees surrounding it on all sides. Alec stopped to survey the peaceful place, a smile blooming on his lips. This really was a beautiful place to start the day. He turned his gaze towards the few people sitting on the tables surrounding the coffee-cart and spotted the man he was looking for almost immediately. Magnus hadn’t seen him yet, too engrossed by whatever he was doing on his phone, so Alec took a couple of seconds to just look at him. He looked almost otherworldly sitting at the table with the sun hitting him almost like a spotlight. The golden details of the shirt he was wearing made it seem as though the man was glowing.

 

He was beautiful.

 

Walking towards Magnus, Alec took a deep breath to steady himself. Only to promptly lose it the second the other man looked up to meet the his eyes. The dark brown he’d almost drowned in the day before, appeared almost amber in the sunlight. Magnus smiled and stood up to greet him and Alec had to force himself not to whimper in delight as the shop owner embraced him. He could have stayed in that position forever, Magnus’ arms circling him and squeezing in greeting. The other man pulled away all too quickly though and Alec hurried to clear his throat so he could speak.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. Izzy kept me from going and I couldn’t ge…” he stopped speaking as Magnus put his finger over his mouth.

“It’s okay, Alexander. I was a bit late myself so I haven’t been waiting that long” he explained with a smile and Alec let out a relieved breath as he nodded.

“You know what you want for breakfast?” he asked instead, looking over to the cart and feeling his stomach rumble from the wonderful aromas coming from it. Magnus chuckled lightly before grabbing his hand and dragging the prince over to pick out their food. Alec couldn’t help the blush that crept up his neck at the feel of Magnus’ hand in his own. He knew the other man probably didn’t mean anything by it, just to lead Alec forward so they could order, but the prince still felt a pleased smile spread on his lips at the action.

 

Magnus dropped his hand as they came up to the window of the cart and Alec immediately missed the warmth of him.

“So? Do you know what you want to eat?” Alec asked again and Magnus nodded with a bright smile.

“They have these amazing blueberry pancakes here and they are the only ones with Lipton Forest Fruit tea, it’s a Swedish brand. It’s the perfect breakfast, let me tell you!” the shop owner answered and Alec chuckled at how enthusiastic he seemed.

“Okay then, blueberry pancakes it is!” he said and walked up to the cashier to order for them. He didn’t even notice that Magnus was staring at him in disbelief as he spoke to the woman in the window.

 

It wasn’t until they were back at their table, drinking their tea and coffee while waiting for the food, that Magnus finally spoke up.

“You know… You really didn’t have to buy me breakfast, I would have been fine paying” he said, a slight look of wonder in his eyes, and Alec looked up at him in confusion.

“I was brought up with the view that the one asking for the date is the one paying?” he answered, furrowing his brows in confusion. Was Magnus offended that he’d paid? Had Alec already messed this up somehow by assuming it would be okay for him to pay for the other man’s meal?

_I really should have asked before doing anything, now he’s not going to want to see me anymore. I obviously know nothing about how to handle a date!_  he berated himself.

 

But it seemed as though his internal panic was completely unnecessary, because Magnus gave him a smile that just about made Alec melt right there on the bench.

 

_Here drips Alec Lightwood, Prince of Idris, who was killed and turned into liquid by witnessing too much perfection in a man._

 

He was so caught up in just marvelling over how Magnus smiled with his whole face, small wrinkles forming by his eyes, that he completely missed what the other man said.

“Alec?” Magnus prompted him, obviously waiting for an answer to something he’d said. Alec panicked slightly, he’d zoned out and _missed it!_ Shaking his head to clear it from the panic, he let out a very thought out:

“Huh?”, which apparently seemed to be his default answer nowadays. Magnus just laughed, an almost fond look in his eyes, before laying his hand on Alec’s own.

“I said: ‘You’re quite the gentleman, aren’t you?’ Where did you go, anyway? Am I boring you already?” he said and Alec hurried to shake his head.

“Oh, no no. Absolutely not! I’m not… I mean… I’m sorry about that, I just… Ehm..” he broke off. He couldn’t very well _tell_  the shop owned he’d zoned out because he found the other man’s smile to be too gorgeous for Alec to be able to survive!

“I was just joking, I wasn’t actually offended, darling”, he said and Alec let out a relieved breath at that.

 

A waiter came out with their food right then and they both ate in silence for a couple of minutes. Normally, Alec would have felt awkward and out of place at having no one say anything. It was a date, after all. But with Magnus it just felt… natural somehow. As if they’d known each other all their lives, when in reality they’d met just the day before. Normally, the way Magnus had hugged him earlier, and how he kept giving Alec small touches, would have had the prince very uncomfortable. But he wasn’t, it felt… right somehow. He found himself longing for the next casual touch, wondering what it might be that brought it on.

 

“So you want to tell me why I had to find out from my friend and not you that you’re apparently a prince?” Magnus broke the silence and Alec promptly choked on the piece of pancake he’d just put in his mouth. Coughing, he hit himself in the chest to get the piece out of his throat before answering:

“I thought you knew? I mean, not that I expect everyone to recognize me, I’m not Izzy or anything, but I figured you knew when I said my name. Is it… a problem?” he said, trying very hard not to cringe at his own words.

Alec himself wasn’t very known by the press, and the paparazzi very rarely followed him or even thought he was anyone special. That was not to say that they didn’t _love_  writing stories about the royal family of Idris whenever they were in the states, but Alec had never been much for the spotlight, that was Izzy’s department, and thus he was more of a ‘we know he exists, but he’s not exciting enough for us to report on’-figure in the family. Not that he minded. It meant that he could go out for a walk without ten or more people following him. And, more importantly, it meant that nobody was following him out on this date. He’d hate to force Magnus into a life in the spotlight without at the very least give him a choice in the matter. He was also very happy that he had the chance to get to know and maybe even build a relationship with a person without two whole countries following their every move. It made it a lot less complicated.

 

*******

 

Magnus shook his head at Alec’s words.

“No, I don’t mind. I was just wondering if you were wanting to keep it a secret or something. It doesn’t really change my opinion of you, if that’s what you were afraid of”, he said and couldn’t help but smile as Alec’s mouth twitched in one of his own.

“I honestly didn’t even think about it. I guess I wasn’t really… ehm…” he broke off and Magnus felt his stomach flutter in delight. Alec was the most mesmerizing man he’d ever met. He’d been flushing, giving off secret smiles and half-stuttering his way through the date and Magnus had been forced to stop himself from just grabbing his face and kissing him on more than one occasion. It was just their first date, and already Magnus was falling hard for this adorable man who seemed completely clueless as to just how gorgeous and amazing he was. He found himself wanting to know everything there was to know about the man before him, so he set out to do just that:

“Well, now that that is out of the way. Tell me about yourself. Other than the fact that you’re the most handsome prince I’ve ever seen, and that you have a sister who according to Cat is absolutely lovely and a mother who is apparently enjoying a ‘fuck you’-bouquet at the moment, I know almost nothing about you” he said and his heart made a flip in his chest when Alec burst out laughing.

“Oh yeah, mom was so happy about the flowers, she even hugged me! It was kind of surprising actually. Izzy thought I had lost my mind when she understood what they meant”, he said, another small chuckle escaping him as the memory played in his head. Magnus took a sip of his tea as he waited for the other man to continue.

 

“Well, I have two siblings actually. Izzy, who you’ve already heard of and no doubt seen in magazines”, he said, and Magnus nodded in confirmation. Now that he thought about it, he really should have figured out that Alec was royal before, especially since Izzy was one of his favorite style-icons and there was no doubt that the two Lightwood-siblings were related. Alec had even _told him_  that his last name was Lightwood, for crying out loud, but still Magnus hadn’t connected the dots. Then again, he had been a bit… distracted and something like style-icons wasn’t exactly anywhere near his mind last time he’d met the prince, so he guessed that could excuse him some.

“Then there’s Max, he’s my little brother. Kind of a genius actually”, Alec continued, an almost proud smile spreading on his lips. Magnus took another sip of his tea and found himself entranced by the sound of Alec’s voice as he continued to speak:

“Max is still back in Idris with his tutor, but he’s coming here with Dad next week for the dinner. He kind of hates the fact that he’s stuck back home while me and Izzy get to go here, says it’s ‘outright inhumane’ to force someone to stay in what he calls ‘ungodly’ heat” he chuckled at his own words, and Magnus could see that Alec was obviously very fond of his younger brother.

“Jace is happy about it though, because it means he doesn’t have to be alone. Though I guess he has Lydia now, so he wouldn’t have to be alone either way”, he said almost as an afterthought and Magnus couldn’t stop himself from asking:

“Who’s Jace? Another brother?” and Alec perked up at that.

“Oh! No, well… I guess kind of? He’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember. His parents died when he was five years old and since his dad was my fathers’ best friend, my parents kind of adopted him. He’s a guard back in Idris. Lydia is apparently this new guard and apparently they’ve become friends. Well, at least according to Jace they have. But he kind of views himself a bit like the gift to humanity, so who knows if Lydia even likes him, you know?” he explained and Magnus found himself laughing at that. Alec met his eyes and smiled at he raised his own mug to sip it.

“You were right, you know. This place is both beautiful and it has some good food” he mentioned and Magnus couldn’t help but feel a bit proud at that.

“Yeah, it really is. Isn’t it?” he said and looked around at their settings. He really loved it here and he was happy that Alec felt the same.

 

They spent the rest of their breakfast learning some more about each other, Magnus explaining how he came to own the shop and how he’d first wanted to become a fashion-designer, and Alec telling him some more tales about Idris. Magnus loved seeing how Alec appeared so comfortable with him now, where he’d been adorably stuttering before. It made him feel almost… special in a way. Then again, maybe it was just the flirting that made him flushed and caused him to stutter. The shop owner _did_  enjoy seeing that beautiful blush on him though…

 

Magnus was just in the middle of a tale about how he came to own his cat, Chairman Meow, when his phone rang. With a sigh he picked it up and noticed the time.

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Cat! I completely forgot the time. I’ll be there as soon as possible!” he stressed into the phone, looking regretfully at Alec who was getting up from his place with a smile and calming gesture towards Magnus as if to say: ‘Don’t worry, we’re fine!’

“Don’t worry about it, Magnus. I just called to tell you that I fixed everything with the shop. Finish your date and don’t stress about this”, Catarina said at the other end and Magnus breathed out a sigh of relief. He really was lucky to have such a fantastic friend in Catarina Loss.

“Thank you Cat, really. I’ll make it up to you!” he said and his friend just laughed before hanging up on him. Magnus turned to Alec, who was standing waiting on him, and got up to join him.

“I’m so sorry, Alec. I completely forgot about the time and it seems I am late for work”, he explained, his hand coming up to rub at his eye in frustration. He couldn’t believe that it had already been over an hour, it felt like they’d just sat down and Magnus really had no desire of ending this date.

“It’s okay, you did warn me about having to open up the shop” Alec said and Magnus pulled his hand away to find the prince smiling gently down at him.

“I did, didn’t I” he remembered and gave the other man a smile in return. Alec nodded and took a step back to get out of Magnus’ way so that they could start walking. Magnus decided to be bold and held out his hand to the prince, hoping he’d take it where there were no actual excuse for them to hold hand other than that they wanted to. He watched as Alec looked down at the hand, the shop owners’ heart raced in his chest. If the prince declined to take his hand, it would be slightly embarrassing but it would be okay. Magnus would survive that. Maybe he just wasn’t big on public displays of affection. Or he wasn’t comfortable with something like hand-holding just yet, it _was_  only their first date after all. Maybe Alec thought they were going a bit fast, with the hug in greeting and now the hand-holding? That would be fine, Magnus could understand that. He was prepared to go about this however fast or slow Alec wanted them to, as long as he got at least a chance with the other man, Magnus would be happy.

 

He plastered on a understanding and slightly nonchalant smile and was just about to drag his hand back, when Alec looked up at him with the most beautiful smile Magnus had ever seen. His hazel-eyes appeared almost golden in the morning sunlight and the small wrinkles at the corners of his mouth made him look so young and innocent. He was, in short, absolutely gorgeous.

The prince took his hand and Magnus felt his heart do a slight somersault in his chest as he smiled back up at the other man.

“Want to walk me to work?” he winked.

“Well, I _do_  live pretty close by after all, so I might as well”, the prince said with a teasing smile and Magnus gave an accepting nod at that before getting back to his story about the Chairman, reveling in the glorious laughter it drew out of the other man.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,  
> I'm so sorry that this took me so long to post! It was originally meant to be a longer chapter, but when I couldn't decide how to end it properly, I decided to just split it in two and post the other one later (when I've made up my mind on how to end it)!
> 
> I hope you like it, even though it's a bit on the shorter side!

Humming along with the radio, Magnus danced around the shop as he assembled the new bouquet for the front of the shop. He’d decided to go along with the flower-meanings part in the store, deciding to make it into a year-round thing, and was currently working on the window-display for it.

“ A bouquet with compliment and excitement-flowers, Magnus? Really?” Catarina stated with a questioning brow as she walked into the store and took a look at the bouquet in her friend’s hands. Magnus broke out in a smile as he snagged another for the bouquet, making a small twirl as he turned towards Catarina.

“I call it the ‘Perfect first date’-bouquet”, he answered, twirling the flower around in his fingers as he examined it.

“You know, most people see the white Calla Lily as a wedding flower, but I kind of feel like the meaning of ‘magnificence’ and ‘beauty’ fits into the whole first date-atmosphere too, you know? Besides, the white standing for ‘purity’ and ‘innocence’ kind of symbolizes a new, uncorrupt, relationship really well, don’t you think?” Magnus continued, not really sure if he was even talking to the other florist anymore or simply just going through his thought-process with himself as he worked. He bent down to smell the flower, sighing happily as the scent hit his nostrils.

“Mmhm, any particular reason you chose to make that specific bouquet? Any particular _someone_ , maybe?” Catarina said with a knowing smirk and Magnus couldn’t help his own smile from brightening considerably at the reminder of just who Catarina meant.

“Alexander is very much an inspiration, actually”, he admitted and sighed before grabbing another flower and sitting down on a chair.

“It was the most relaxed, amazing date I have ever been on, Cat. It felt like we’d known each other for _years_  and not met just the day before. And oh my god, he’s just so amazing I almost felt like pinching myself to see if it wasn’t a dream after all. He’s so kind, caring and just so beautiful both in the way he looks, which you already knew of course, but also as a person” Magnus found himself a step away from getting lost in explaining just how fantastic the other man was and had to almost physically stop himself from saying anything else.

 

_He was so gone on the man, and he’d only known him for a couple of days._

 

Looking up towards the front of the store, he gave his friend a nod in the direction of the door as he got up to make his way towards his desk.

“You have a customer to take care of while I finish up this bouquet, my dear”, he said, surprisingly happy to be able to go back to his day-dreaming state instead of facing Catarina’s judgmental facial-expression. Magnus had, very much literally, found his prince and no one, not even his best friend, would take this happiness away from him.

 

“Speaking of Alexander”, he mumbled to himself as he surveyed the bouquet on his work-table.

 

**[ To: My Darling Alexander - 12.30 ]**

_ Alexander, I have a very important question to ask of you. Do you have a minute? _

 

He typed out the message and walked over towards the red toned flowers, picking up the two most beautiful Bird of Paradise-flowers they had and carried them back to his work-station, representing “joyfulness” or “exciting and wonderful anticipation”, depending on just how well the buyer would know their date. He was humming slightly to himself as he cut the long stalks of the flower, when his phone chimed with a new message. Knowing who it must be, Magnus hurried to put down his work so he could read the message.

 

**[From: My Darling Alexander - 12.35 ]**

_ Sure. Would you like me to call you or are you busy with work? _

 

Magnus smiled at the message before pressing the button to call the other man, who answered almost immediately.

“Hello?” came a deep voice on the other end of the line and Magnus’ heart warmed at the sound.

“Alexander”, he purred and from the long pause that followed, Magnus was pretty sure he’d managed to make the prince blush at that.

“This may seem quite the odd question, but I find myself in need of knowing how you feel about the color orange?” he asked, deciding to save Alec from filling the silence. The quiet, relieved, sigh from the other end, one which Magnus was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear, told him it had been a good decision.

“I… uhm… I like it. It’s a nice color, I guess. Why do you ask?” came the answer and Magnus found himself wishing he could see the prince as they spoke. But he supposed he’d have to make do with what he was given, so he nodded along with the words, walking up to the flowers he’d had in mind and studying them as he spoke:

“Well, you see I’m making this flower-meanings bouquets and I was thinking of adding orange roses to one of them, they stand for enthusiasm, fascination and _desire_ , you know,” he explained, smiling at the slight intake of breath he heard from Alec at the meanings behind the rose.

“Oh”, Alec answered, pausing briefly before continuing:

“And why, exactly, did you need my input on this particular flower?” he asked and Magnus could almost envision the confused frown on the other man’s face as he tried to figure out what the shop-owner was up to.

“Well, since orange is a color some people find to be a bit too… shall we say ‘dramatic’, I just wanted to make sure you liked it, since I’m gifting this bouquet to you for being my inspiration” Magnus had to admit that he was quite proud of how smoothly that line fell off his lips, the nerves underneath the words next to impossible to detect. 

 

But nervous he was, and the few seconds that went by without an answer from Alec made a small seed of panic grow in the pit of his stomach. What if he’d gone too far too fast? What if he’d scared Alec away by being too forward? Worst of all, what if their date hadn’t gone as well as Magnus had thought it did?

 

“I’m pretty sure orange would compliment your skin-tone and eye-color beautifully”, Alec answered finally and Magnus’ jaw dropped at the words as his heart fluttered in delight.

“Why your majesty, are you telling me you’ve been checking me out? That’s positively sinful, coming from you. The queen would lose her mind if she ever found out” he teased, smile growing at the sound of Alec’s laughter at the other end.

“Yes well, I’m guessing she’ll figure out all about that at the dinner in a few days, right?” the prince sounded almost unsure at the end and Magnus felt the need to ask:

“If you still want me to come to that. Do you?”

“Of course I do”, Alec answered almost before Magnus had a chance to finish his sentence, and the shop-owner smiled at that.

“Good”, was all he was able to get out through the butterflies dancing in his stomach. A comfortable silence filled the line and Magnus found that simply having Alec present in some way made him more focused as he studied his work. He realized that he’d need a smaller flower to bind the others together. Looking around the shop, he wracked his brain for a suitable one.

“You know, if this bouquet you’re building is supposed to represent… well, whatever this is between you and me. Then I think you might want to add some blue to it… It’s… Uhm.. It’s my favorite color”, Alec finally broke the silence as if he’d read Magnus’ mind and the shop owner turned his attention towards the blue section of the shop.

“Blue, huh?” he said as he studied the different flowers.

“Yeah… Blue”, the smile in Alec’s voice made Magnus want to dance around the shop again.

 

When his eyes landed on the blue Aster flowers in the corner, Magnus couldn’t help but smile. Daintiness and elegance, it was perfect for describing the _exquisite_ man that was the crown prince Alexander Lightwood.

“As you wish, darling!” he sing-songed and picked up enough Aster-flowers to fill out the bouquet. The forget me not’s caught the corner of his eye and with small spurt of hope and, feeling a bit bold, he decided to add a small amount of them into it as well, making a mental not to not include it in the official “Perfect first date”-bouquet. He hoped that Alec wouldn’t know what they meant before he was ready to tell him.

Deciding to take advantage of this burst of courage, Magnus took a chance:

 

“So tell me, your majesty, what are your plans for lunch on this beautiful summer day?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought in the comment-section and make my day! If you want, you can look me up on tumblr.
> 
> You can find me on: **PrincessOfMalec**


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Jumps out from behind a curtain*  
> GUESS WHO IS BACK FROM THE DOOM OF WRITER'S BLOCK!?  
> Me! It's me!
> 
> Seriously, I'm so so sorry guys! I had some rough months in my private-life and then the fandom got so toxic and negative, I just felt like whatever I wrote would be bashed due to being "problematic" or something. Maybe I should take that as a queue to put more research into the writing, but honestly? I do that with my book, and this and all the other fanfics I'm writing really are just for fun and basically me getting out some ideas and hopefully making someone smile, so I don't really feel like spending hours upon hours on research. Sorry if that offends anyone. If there _are_ any parts in this story that you'd like me to change though, please do not hesitate to point them out for me and I'll fix them  <3
> 
> Anyway, I was going to wait to post this until I had more chapters finished, but then I read all the comments on the last chapters and felt really damn bad about making you wait even longer so here you go, I hope you like it!

 

When Magnus messaged him, Alec had panicked slightly - thinking that he’d done something to upset the other man. Taking a minute to go through every word he’d said on their date the day before, Alec decided the best way to find out was to just let Magnus ask whatever it was he wanted to ask.

 

The conversation that followed was far from what he’d expected and when Magnus asked about his plans for lunch, Alec was still in a slight shock and must have taken too long to answer, because suddenly Magnus sounded far less teasing and almost unsure as he continued:

“It’s completely okay if you have other plans, Alexander. I didn’t… I mean it wasn’t my intent to push you in any way, I know we met only a couple of days ago. I was just…”

Alec couldn’t listen to the other man’s sad tone of voice anymore, especially when he’d so obviously gotten it all wrong, so he interrupted him before he could say anything else.

“Do you like italian food?” he said.

“I.. uh, sure”, Magnus answered and Alec smiled at that.

“Good. I would love to have lunch with you, Magnus. Shall we meet at the ‘Seelie Court’ at 2pm then?”

Alec wasn’t sure where he got his sudden spur of confidence, but if it meant he could make plans to have lunch with the most beautiful man he’d ever met, then he wasn’t about to question it.

 

*******

 

Looking up at the large clock they had situated over the cashier's-desk, Magnus put in the finishing touch on the primary sign for the message-bouquets. He would make smaller ones too, to fit each different bouquet, but that would have to wait because right now he had a lunch-date with his prince to prepare for.

 

“Cat, I’m taking a longer lunch today!” he called out to his friend as he began cleaning up his work-station.

“Yeah, sure. I’m doing the same tomorrow though, I’m meeting Isabelle to go over the last details for the royal dinner,” came the answer, and Magnus smiled at the mere thought of said dinner. He was still, even after having had days to prepare for it, a bit stunned that Alec had actually invited him to it. It just seemed a bit like he was living in a dream. Just three days earlier, he hadn’t had a single thought to starting up a new romance - his mind too preoccupied with the shop and all the ideas he had for it. He hadn’t been unhappy, but then again he hadn’t had any idea it was even possible for him to feel as if he was walking on clouds just a few days later. Alexander Lightwood was the best surprise he’d even gotten and if this was nothing but a dream, Magnus was sure going to milk it for all it was worth before someone woke him up.

 

He grabbed his coat and started walking towards the restaurant he’d be meeting Alec at, ignoring Catarina’s laughter at the slight spring in his step.

 

*******

There were times in his everyday life that Alec really and with a passion _loathed_  that his family was royal. The fact that even though he wasn’t as frequent in the press as his sister and didn’t constantly have to worry about being followed around by the press, he still ran the risk of having them finding out about new developments in his lovelife and right now appeared to be one of the times Alec would start cursing his royal blood.

 

Walking towards “The Seelie Court”, he luckily noticed the photographers that were doing a quite frankly piss poor job of seeming inconspicuous before they saw him and with a sigh in frustration he picked up his phone to call Raj - there was no doubt in his mind who was responsible for their presence.

 

“Your Majesty, since you’re calling I’m going to assume your mother decided not to listen to my advice this time either?”, the assistant answered and Alec sighed and nodded before remembering the other man couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, what is the story she’s spinning this time? How did she even find out where I'd be?” he questioned and could almost hear Raj roll his eyes at the confirmation.

“She heard you on the phone, got really excited about you going on a date with this Catarina-person. I’m afraid nothing is private in your family and I’m assuming it isn’t a woman you’re meeting at all?”

Sometimes Alec seriously wondered how someone as understanding and well _kind_  as Raj could bare working for his mother. The man was obviously a saint of some kind.

“Yeah no, my date is _not_  a woman. I’m still very gay, thank you very much. Would you mind helping me out with this? I know it’s sudden but I’d really hate to cancel…” he trailed of and Raj laughed at the sadness no doubt palpable in his voice.

“Already called Meliorn to get the chef’s table ready for you, he’ll meet you and your date at the back-entrance should you need it. But your highness, if I may offer some unsolicited advice?” the other man answered and Alec decided right then and there to make sure to get Raj a raise for this.

“Yes?” he said, a bit unsure as to just what this advice might entail.

“Her majesty, the queen, is quite… shall we say enthusiastic about you being anything other than homosexual and I think that maybe making it official that you are, in fact, dating a man might help in getting her to... Well, 'back off' to be frank about it. Of course, this is up to you and your significant other to decide, but this will not be the last time she tips off the paparazzi of your whereabouts to get in a picture of you and a woman. Just a little something to think about. As I said, Meliorn has the other alternative open for you should you decide it’s too soon for that”

 

Alec thought about it for a couple of seconds, peeking out from the corner he was hiding behind to see the small cluster of people gathered there. Maybe he had a point. Alec wasn’t ashamed of his sexuality, not like he’d once been, and if he was just open and didn’t make a big deal of it he was pretty sure the novelty of it would wear off pretty fast.

There was still Magnus’ feelings to consider though and while Alec was pretty sure the other man was well aware what dating a member of the royal household might entail, he still felt like it was only fair to let him decide for himself if he wanted every single part of his life made public when the world found out about his relationship with Alec. Despite Alec feeling like he’d known Magnus forever - and he couldn’t imagine not wanting to have the other man in his life for a long time to come - , this _was_  still only their second date and a part of him thought it might be a bit too soon for any public statements to be made.

 

“Thank you, Raj. Really, you make a good point and I’m pretty sure you’re right. I’ll have to talk to Ma… Ehm, my date about it first though... “ he said eventually and leaned his head against the house wall as Raj made an affirming sound on the other end.

“Of course, your majesty. Let me know if he will be needing a protection detail. And Alec, if I may be so informal”, he continued and Alec snorted. He’d asked Raj to call him by his given name for years but the man insisted on professionalism. “I am proud of you, you know. And though she might be quite terrible at saying so, your mother truly does believe you’ll make a great king one day”, he finished and Alec smiled at the words.

“Thank you, Raj” he said and ended the call with a small knot forming in his throat. He knew, logically, that his mother believed in him, but hearing the words affirmed still meant a lot to him.

 

_***_

Magnus smiled as his phone vibrated with an incoming call, knowing who it was before he’d even looked at the screen.

“Alexander! I’m almost there, about a minute and a half away” he chirped and put more speed into his steps as to not keep the other man waiting for him.

“Magnus I… Well my mother sort of found out I had a lunch-date and…” the prince started and Magnus’ heart sank at the tone.

“It’s okay if you have to cancel, Alec, I unders…” he started but was interrupted by the other’s almost shout.

“NO! Ehm… No, I just… There’s paparazzi outside of the restaurant so unless you want to have your picture in every major magazine in New York come morning, I just called to say that we can enter through the back. The manager has set up the chef’s table for us if you’d be more comfortable with that” Alec explained and Magnus stiffened slightly at the mention of paparazzis but relaxed when he realized what Alec was really asking:

_Are you comfortable with making this - whatever this thing between us is - official?_

 

“I’ll tell you what, why don’t we take your friend up on the chef’s table-offer and talk about this over lunch? I’m right behind you, darling”, he answered and waved with a smile as Alec turned around and spotted him.

“Yeah, that.. Yeah”, the prince mumbled before hanging up the call and walking towards Magnus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it (and don't worry, I'm not known for having my relationships move too fast *glances at the wordcount* heh... There will not be any "I love you so much!"-exclamations on their third day of knowing each other because that would be ridiculous xD )
> 
> Please make sure to leave your screams and thoughts in the comments, I may not have the time and energy to always answer them all, but I read them all and they fuel my need for validation (a)
> 
> If you want to scream at me on Tumblr, you can find me on: **MatthewLightwood-Bane** (Yep, I changed it a few months ago!)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought in the comment-section and make my day! If you want, you can look me up on tumblr.
> 
> You can find me on: **MatthewLightwood-Bane**


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